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A protest in support of exiled Lebanese general Michel Aoun, who opposes the presence of Syrian forces in Lebanon, degenerated on Friday into skirmishes between students and riot police officers.

Television footage showed police chasing students through the streets of downtown Beirut and severely beating two of them. Four students were slightly injured and seven detained for questioning, AFP reported from Beirut.

Some 300 students gathered to observe the 15th anniversary of Aoun's declaration of a "war of liberation" against Syria, when the Christian general served as the head of a military government.

On Wednesday, several students and soldiers were injured during clashes as police and troops attempted to prevent a demonstration from spilling outside a university campus, witnesses said.